Norwegians dominate the relay, DSV men celebrate second place at home
Norway has secured its third victory in the third relay of the season at the BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon 2024 in Oberhof. Endre Stroemsheim, Sturla Holm Laegreid, Tarjei Boe and Johannes Thingnes Boe only had seven penalties and finished well ahead of the second-placed German team (+2:01.9).
The superstars from the north could also afford a "bad" faux pas at the second exchange, when the incredulous looking Laegreid searched in vain for the next skier, Tarjei Boe. After a little delay, the older of the two Boe brothers was able to take over the third part for the Norwegians.
The German quartet of Roman Rees, Benedikt Doll, Philipp Nawrath and Philipp Horn were even in contention for victory when Nawrath took the lead in third position. However, the 30-year-old then had to go into the penalty loop once. "The conditions were difficult and I had the Norwegian breathing down my neck, so emotions naturally played a role. But overall, I was able to secure second place," said Nawrath.
20,000 fans in the ARENA
Local hero Philipp Horn finished the race on the second place for Germany and thus achieved the best relay result of the season in the ARENA am Rennsteig, which was packed with 20,000 fans. It was the third podium in the third relay race of the season for the DSV stars. "I went into the race very confident because I also ran an extremely strong final lap yesterday," said Horn. "My starting position was comfortable, I had a good gap to first place and a big lead over third place. The prone shooting then went quite well, and I was very relieved when the last cartridge went in," said Horn, who had to use the last of the 15 German reloads. "I went all-in on the final round because it was so loud at the Birx that I couldn't hear the coaches and had no information about the time gaps. I really enjoyed the atmosphere."
Third place went to Italy (+2:50.5) with Elia Zeni, Didier Bionaz, Lukas Hofer and Thomas Giacomel. The Italians, who needed 16 reloads, benefited from a penalty loop by the Swede Sebastian Samuelsson at the last shooting.